Qualification levels help to evaluate the economic opportunities and socio-economic status of local workers in a particular industry.
The level of qualifications in a workforce relate to a number of factors including:
- The age of the workforce;
- The skill and qualification level required to enter an industry;
- The professional or working ambitions of people (to seek education as youth or retraining as adults);
- The opportunities afforded to people to continue studying beyond compulsory schooling.
Educational Qualification statistics should be looked at in conjunction with Field of qualification and Occupations data for a full education analysis for the Canberra Region.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current area:
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
| Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra Region - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
| Qualification level | Number | % | NSW | Number | % | NSW | 2016 - 2021 | ||
| Bachelor or Higher degree | 35,537 | 24.4 | 38.4 | 26,338 | 20.6 | 32.6 | +9,199 | ||
| Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 15,073 | 10.4 | 11.0 | 13,123 | 10.3 | 11.1 | +1,950 | ||
| Certificate I and II Level | 2,316 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 2,215 | 1.7 | 1.2 | +101 | ||
| Certificate III & IV Level | 37,266 | 25.6 | 18.1 | 32,669 | 25.6 | 18.7 | +4,597 | ||
| Certificate Level, nfd | 3,158 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 3,374 | 2.6 | 2.3 | -216 | ||
| No qualification | 48,562 | 33.4 | 27.0 | 45,802 | 35.9 | 31.1 | +2,760 | ||
| Inadequately described or not stated | 3,616 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 4,076 | 3.2 | 2.9 | -460 | ||
| Total Persons | 145,528 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 127,597 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +17,931 | ||
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions) Please refer to specific data notes for more information | |||||||||
Dominant groups
Analysis of the qualifications of the in the Canberra Region in 2021 compared to NSW shows that there was a lower proportion holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a higher proportion with no formal qualifications.
Overall, 64.1% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 33.4% had no qualifications, compared with 70.7% and 27.0% respectively for NSW.
The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of the Canberra Region and NSW were:
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (24.4% compared to 38.4%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (25.6% compared to 18.1%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with No qualification (33.4% compared to 27.0%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (10.4% compared to 11.0%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in the Canberra Region between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+9,199 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+4,597 local workers)
- No qualification (+2,760 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+1,950 local workers)